The Knights Templar are demanding that the Vatican give them back
their good name and, possibly, billions in assets into the bargain,
700 years after the order was brutally suppressed by a joint venture
between the Pope and the King of France. If the Holy See doesn’t
comply, the warrior knights, renowned for liberating the Holy Land,
will deploy that most fearsome of weapons: a laborious court case
through the creaking Spanish legal system.

The Daily Telegraph reports that The Association of the Sovereign
Order of the Temple of Christ has launched a court case in Spain,
demanding Pope Benedict “recognise” the seizure of assets worth
€100bn. The Spanish-based group of Templars apparently says in a
statement: “We are not trying to cause the economic collapse of the
Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court the magnitude of
the plot against our Order.” This might come as a surprise to those
who believe that the order of warrior monks – also credited with
possessing the Holy Grail and laying the foundation of the European
banking system – was smashed in 1307 by Pope Clement V and Philip IV
of France.

At the time, the order was accused of a multitude of crimes, including
two medieval biggies – sodomy and heresy. However, recently discovered
Vatican papers showed that the order had never been declared heretics,
burnings at the stake for the leadership not withstanding. Rather, it
appeared that the order’s suppression was more a piece of realpolitik
on the pope’s part to pacify Philip, who was somewhat irked by the
prospect of the powerful order increasing its continental activities
after Jerusalem fell to the Turks.

Despite the order’s brutal apparent suppression, its legacy has been
claimed by numerous successor organisations, and besmirched by popular
authors ad nauseum. One of the successors, Ordo Supremus Militaris
Templi Hierosolymitani, is apparently recognised by Unesco. We
contacted the UK branch, otherwise known as the The Grand Priory of
Knights Templar in England and Wales, to see if they could throw any
light on the matter but they have yet to get back to us.

The Grand Priory’s website says the modern organisation is about
humanitarian and charity work. There is no mention of the Holy Grail,
though it does support the maintenance of the Holy Places. And if
you’re looking for esoteric rites or secret higher knowledge, you’re
likely to be disappointed. The website says: “Please don’t expect to
be enlightened with some supposed ‘secret’ knowledge, because nothing
exists.” Of course, any conspiracy theorist will tell you that’s
exactly what you’d expect them to say.

The Association of the Sovereign Order of the Temple of Christ, whose
members claim to be descended from the legendary crusaders, have filed
a lawsuit against Benedict XVI calling for him to recognise the
seizure of assets worth 100 billion euros (£79 billion).

They claim that when the order was dissolved by his predecessor Pope
Clement V in 1307, more than 9,000 properties as well as countless
pastures, mills and other commercial ventures belonging to the knights
were appropriated by the church.

But their motive is not to reclaim damages only to restore the “good
name” of the Knights Templar. “We are not trying to cause the economic
collapse of the Roman Catholic Church, but to illustrate to the court
the magnitude of the plot against our Order,” said a statement issued
by the self-proclaimed modern day knights.

The Templars was a powerful secretive group of warrior monks founded
by French knight Hugues de Payens after the First Crusade of 1099 to
protect pilgrims en route to Jerusalem. They amassed enormous wealth
and helped to finance wars waged by European monarchs, but
spectacularly fell from grace after the Muslims reconquered the Holy
Land in 1244 and rumours surfaced of their heretic practices.

The Knights were accused of denying Jesus, worshipping icons of the
devil in secret initiation ceremonies, and practising sodomy. Many
Templars confessed to their crimes under torture and some, including
the Grand Master Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake. The legal
move by the Spanish group comes follows the unprecedented step by the
Vatican towards the rehabilitation of the group when last October it
released copies of parchments recording the trials of the Knights
between 1307 and 1312.

The papers lay hidden for more than three centuries having been
“misfiled” within papal archives until they were discovered by an
academic in 2001. The Chinon parchment revealed that, contrary to
historic belief, Clement V had declared the Templars were not heretics
but disbanded the order anyway to maintain peace with their accuser,
King Philip IV of France.

“Years of research and organization, conducted by the Vatican Secret
Archive on its source material, have made possible the publication of
Processus Contra Templarios, the exclusive and previously unavailable
hearing of the original acts of the ancient trial against the Templar
Knights.

A unique project in the world, this work comes in a limited run of 799
copies, under the supervision of the Papal Archive officials, and
includes the faithful replicas of the original parchments kept at the
Secret Archive along with a new and exclusive critical edition on the
minutes of the inquiry.

A thorough analysis of the original parchments, performed through the
technique known as “Wood lamp”, which allows the recovery of parts of
text unattainable to previous publishers, has made possible for the
supervisors to amend older editions, so as to afford a more accurate
and genuine reading of the documents.

The filing of pre-existing sources has indeed allowed to recover
misinterpreted text sections as well as standardize designations for
both people and locations. Therefore, the Vatican Secret Archive gives
academics and interested subjects access to a precious and
scientifically reliable tool of research into the historical facts
related to the Templar Order.”

The Vatican is selling a limited edition of life-sized replicas of a
giant forgotten parchment that absolves the mysterious knights of
their status as heretics. Only 799 copies of the document, which is
the size of a small dinner table, will be sold for €5,900 (£3,925)
each. An 800th copy will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI.

The 300-page Processus Contra Templarios (Trial against the Templars),
measuring more than two metres across, records the trial of the
knights when they were accused of heresy before Pope Clement V between
1307 and 1312. Also known as the Chinon parchment, the original
artefact was discovered in the Vatican’s secret archives in 2001 after
it had been wrongly catalogued for more than 300 years. The
reproductions are printed on synthetic parchment with a replica of the
original papal wax seal. Enfolded in a soft leather case, each copy
also comes with a scholarly commentary.

The Knights Templar were a powerful and secretive group of warrior
monks during the Middle Ages. Their secrecy has given birth to endless
legends, including one that they discovered the Holy Grail. The order
was founded by Hugues de Payns, a French knight, after the First
Crusade of 1099 to protect pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. Its
headquarters was the captured Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple
Mount, which lent the order their name. But when Jerusalem fell to
Muslim rule in 1244, rumours surfaced that the knights were heretics
who worshipped idols in a secret initiation ceremony.

The Chinon parchment reveals that, contrary to historic belief, the
pope found that the Templars were not heretics – even though he still
disbanded the order to maintain peace with their accuser, King Philip
IV “the Fair” of France. Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the
Templars, was burned at the stake in 1314 along with his aides on
Philip’s orders.

Some surviving monks fled. Some were absorbed by other orders, and
over the centuries, various groups have claimed to be descended from
the Templars. Some of the knights who did not manage to escape were
brought before Pope Clement. Their accusers claimed that the Templars’
initiation ceremony, which involved “spitting on the cross”, “denying
Jesus” and kissing the lower back, navel and mouth of the man
proposing them, was blasphemous.

However, the knights explained that the initiation mimicked the
humiliation that knights could suffer if they fell into the hands of
the Saracens, while the kissing ceremony was a sign of their total
obedience. The pope ultimately cleared them of heresy, but found them
guilty of lesser infractions of church law.

Barbara Frale, the Vatican historian who discovered the Chinon
parchment in a box of other papers, said: “For 700 years we have
believed that the Templars died as cursed men, and this absolves
them.” She added: “There were a lot of faults in the order – abuses,
violence … a lot of sins – but not heresy.”

The mysteries of the Order of the Knights Templar could soon be laid
bare after the Vatican announced the release of a crucial document
which has not been seen for almost 700 years. A new book, Processus
contra Templarios, will be published by the Vatican’s Secret Archive
on Oct 25, and promises to restore the reputation of the Templars,
whose leaders were burned as heretics when the order was dissolved in
1314.

The Knights Templar were a powerful and secretive group of warrior
monks during the Middle Ages. Their secrecy has given birth to endless
legends, including one that they guard the Holy Grail. The Order was
founded by Hugues de Payns, a French knight, after the First Crusade
of 1099 to protect pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem. Its headquarters
was the captured Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, which lent the
Templars their name. But when Jerusalem fell to Muslim rule in 1244,
rumours surfaced that the knights were heretics who worshipped idols
in a secret initiation ceremony.

In 1307, King Philip IV “the Fair” of France, in desperate need of
funds, ordered the arrest and torture of all Templars. After
confessing various sins their leader, Jacques de Molay, was burnt at
the stake. Pope Clement V then dissolved the order and issued arrest
warrants for all remaining members. Ever since, the Templars have been
thought of as heretics. The new book is based on a scrap of parchment
discovered in the Vatican’s secret archives in 2001 by Professor
Barbara Frale. The long-lost document is a record of the trial of the
Templars before Pope Clement, and ends with a papal absolution from
all heresies. Prof Frale said: “I could not believe it when I found
it. The paper was put in the wrong archive in the 17th century.”

The document, known as the Chinon parchment, reveals that the Templars
had an initiation ceremony which involved “spitting on the cross”,
“denying Jesus” and kissing the lower back, navel and mouth of the man
proposing them. The Templars explained to Pope Clement that the
initiation mimicked the humiliation that knights could suffer if they
fell into the hands of the Saracens, while the kissing ceremony was a
sign of their total obedience.

The Pope concluded that the entrance ritual was not truly blasphemous,
as alleged by King Philip when he had the knights arrested. However,
he was forced to dissolve the Order to keep peace with France and
prevent a schism in the church. “This is proof that the Templars were
not heretics,” said Prof Frale. “The Pope was obliged to ask pardon
from the knights. “For 700 years we have believed that the Templars
died as cursed men, and this absolves them.”

“At Paris, 18 March of 1314, on the island of the Seine in front of
the Garden real, Jacques de Molay, the last Great Master of the
Templars, and Geoffroy de Charny, preceptor of Normandy, were burned
like heretics. Therefore the history of the Knights of the Temple,
after two centuries, finishes. The Templars would have been in
possession of the most hidden secrets of alchemy.

They were first to use the IPERICO, in the burns and hurts from cut,
like antiseptic, astringent, healing, and in order to improve humor of
the soldiers that remained immobilizes to bed for months. Such
experiences landed then to the salernitana medical school, that is
remained the crib of the phytotherapy until the six hundred.

The Templars created a mixture with pulp of Aloe, pulp of Hemp and
wine of Palm,called “ELISIR of GERUSALEM”, with therapeutic and
nourishing property, they used the Arborescens ALOE for its
antiseptic, bactericidal and fungicide action and for its capacity to
penetration in the deeper layers of the skin. Robert Anton Wilson, in
his book on the Templars, asserts that they used the hashish and
practiced a shape of Arabic Tantrism, doctrine of enlightenment as the
realization of oneness of one’s self and the visible world, combining
elements of hinduism and paganism, including magical and mystical
elements.

The authors of Holy Blood and Holy Grail Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln
comment that the Templars need to treat wounds and illness, made them
experts in the use of drugs and the Order in advance of their time
regarded epilepsy not as demonic possession but as to controllable
disease. Interestingly cannabis is the safest natural or synthetic
medication proven successful in the treatment of loads forms of
epilepsy. The esoteric inheritance and the alchemical-spagyrics
acquaintances were handed from the Templars to the Crocifers.

From these Orders, that one of Saint Giacomo or Jacobite managed many
Hospitals during the XV century. To the Jacobite monks , in quality of
experts in the cure of the diseases of the skin, the task was
entrusted to cure the wounded soldiers during the Crusades, in the
Hospitals of Malta and Cyprus. To they, in fact, was attributed the
capability to create miraculous ointments.

In such historical context it must estimate the work of the Templars
concluding with recognizing that they, anticipating the times, had a
modern vision of the Medicine and, although were considered heretics
and consigned to the fire, recently a document has been recovered in
Archives Vaticans from the studious Barbara Frale that demonstrates as
Pope Clemente V secretly pardoned Templars in 1314, acquitting their
Great Master from the heresy accusation.”

The importance of the Chinon parchment is that it proves that Pope
Clement V had absolved these Templars from their crimes and cleared
them of any taint of heresy. The subsequent dissolution of the order
was the work of the French king’s persevering campaign.

It was a long way from the idealism with which, on Christmas Day 1119,
a handful of knights took their vows as “Poor Fellow-Soldiers of
Christ” devoted to guarding pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem, at
that period in Christian hands. The new foundation was granted as its
headquarters the al-Aqsa former mosque. This domed building on the
Temple Mount was thought at the time to be Solomon’s Temple, hence
Templars.

Michael Haag, in his well-knit narrative, gets through an enormous
spread of history, helpfully telling readers what the Bible has to say
about the Jewish Temple before running through the Roman, Muslim and
Crusader centuries. The after-history of the Templars is dominated by
the imaginings of Freemasons and the conspiracy fancies of scarcely
distinct alternative historians and novelists. If anything, the author
is too tolerant of this froth. Historical truth does matter.

Perhaps the Templars themselves were off-beam from their first dawn,
since it seems to have escaped the notice of these poor, chaste and
obedient monk-knights that Christ was not a soldier. They joined St
Bernard in promoting the rather disastrous Second Crusade, but found
little success in freeing Christian territories in the Holy Land from
surrounding warring Islamic factions. They had better luck in Spain,
where the frontier of reconquered territory pushed steadily
southwards.

The Templars acquired rich grants of land from kings such as Henry I
of England, who gave them a plot at the end of Chancery Lane, where
the Temple church now stands. Its model is not Solomon’s Temple, but
the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, built over the site of
the tomb of Christ.

An idea in medieval Europe, more widespread than the Templars, was
that every church in which the body and blood of Christ were
sacrificed again daily was another Holy Sepulchre. In 1009, long
before the Templars’ foundation, Christ’s rock-hewn grave in Jerusalem
was attacked with pickaxes after the church around it had been
demolished, on the orders of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, who made
Jews and Christians wear distinctive clothes and generally behaved in
a fierce manner.

There was never an unmoving monolithic Muslim force opposing a
monolithic Christian Crusader polity. Shia, Egyptian-based Fatimids
were displaced by Sunni, Persianised-Turkic Seljuks. Saladin, the man
who in 1187 recaptured Jerusalem from the Christians, was by origin a
Kurd, an Indo-European people like their Frankish enemies. Saladin
purified the Templar headquarters, restoring it as a mosque, but
decided not to demolish the rebuilt Holy Sepulchre.

When in 1229 Frederick II crowned himself King of Jerusalem there (no
bishop caring to crown this excommunicate troublemaker), he ensured by
treaty that the Templars were forbidden to return. It was a straw in
the wind. The Templars were to be destroyed by the jealousy of kings.

ROME – The Vatican has published secret documents about the trial of
the Knights Templar, including a parchment — long ignored because of a
vague catalog entry in 1628 — showing that Pope Clement V initially
absolved the medieval order of heresy.

The 300-page volume recently came out in a limited edition — 799
copies — each priced at $8,377, said Scrinium publishing house, which
prints documents from the Vatican’s secret archives. The Vatican work
reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened
after King Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders
in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.

As their military might increased, the Templars also had grown in
wealth, acquiring property throughout Europe and running a primitive
banking system. After they left the Middle East with the collapse of
the Crusader kingdoms, their power and secretive ways aroused the fear
of European rulers and sparked accusations of corruption and
blasphemy.

Accused by an indebted king
Historians believe Philip owed debts to the Templars and used the
accusations to arrest their leaders and extract, under torture,
confessions of heresy as a way to seize the order’s riches.

The publishing house said the new book includes the “Parchment of
Chinon,” a 1308 decision by Clement to save the Templars and their
order. The Vatican archives researcher who found the parchment said
Friday that it probably had been ignored because the 1628 catalog
entry on the 40-inch-wide parchment was “too Spartan, too vague.”

“Unfortunately, there was an archiving error, an error in how the
document was described,” the researcher, Barbara Frale, said in a
telephone interview from her home in Viterbo, north of Italy.

“More than an error, it was a little sketchy,” she said.

The parchment, in remarkably good condition considering its 700 years,
apparently had last been consulted at the start of the 20th century,
Frale said, surmising that its significance must have not have been
realized then.

Burned at the stake
Frale said she was intrigued by the 1628 entry because, while it
apparently referred to some minor matter, it noted that three top
cardinals, including the right-hand man of Clement, Berenger Fredol,
had made a long journey to interrogate someone.

“Going on with my research, it turned out that in reality it was an
inquest of very great importance” on behalf of the pope, Frale said.
Fredol “had gone to question the Great Master and other heads of the
Templars who had been segregated, practically kidnapped, by the king
of France and shut up in secret in his castle in Chinon on the Loire.”

According to the Vatican archives Web site, the parchment shows that
Clement initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he
did find them guilty of immorality, and that he planned to reform the
order.

However, pressured by Philip, Clement later reversed his decision and
suppressed the order in 1312. Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the
Templars, was burned at the stake in 1314 along with his aides.
Surviving monks fled. Some were absorbed by other orders; over the
centuries, various groups have claimed to have descended from the
Templars.

MOMMY, WHERE DO PIRATES COME FROM?http://www.esotericrosslyn.org/secrets/symbols.htm
“The Templars had learned much about Arab/Eastern philosophy and
beliefs while in Jerusalem. They also absorbed the many building
techniques derived from the East and Classical Greece. Many of them
were stonemasons and they used biblical descriptions of the Temple of
Solomon and building tools in the symbolism of their designs and their
ceremonies.

The Skull and Crossbones is also a good example of how our perception
of symbols can change over time. Esoteric and hermetic groups had for
centuries used the Skull and Crossbones as a symbol to represent birth
and rebirth (the evolving soul) and it was adopted for this reason by
the Knights Templar.

They used it as a symbol on the flags of their ships as well as that
of the Cross. After being driven out of the Holy Land, the Knights
Templars used their powerful fleet of ships to harass their Moslem
adversaries in the Mediterranean area. At the fall of the Templars in
1307, the entire Templar fleet disappeared from the port of La
Rochelle. The Skull and Crossbones flags of the Templar ships became a
symbol with a powerful reputation and identified with pirates.

By the 17th and 18th centuries the Templars had long since gone
underground and evolved into other organisations. The symbol of the
Skull and Crossbones came to be associated mainly with pirates and
also devil worship. It had become something to be feared. It was known
as the ‘Jolly Roger’ in the context of the pirates. (This may be a
corruption of the French name for the red flag, the ‘Jolie Rouge’.)”

“Legend has it that the Jolly Roger obtained its appellation from the
French name for the red flag, the “Jolie Rouge.” And so it may be, for
the flag was first used by a French order of militant monks known as
the “Poor Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon” – commonly
known as the Knights Templar.

The Templars, were pious men. They gave up all their worldly
possessions when they entered the Order, only carrying money on
special occasions when they traveled alone, turning over whatever
money that remained upon reaching their destination. They were
ferocious warriors; pitching themselves into the midst of their
enemies, astride charging warhorses, against incredible odds. Being
men of principle; their rules of conduct were strict. They were
willing to die for their beliefs, and so were feared on the
battlefield and respected in life. Such was their reputation, that in
battle, there were instances where the enemy would turn and run at the
very sight of Templars entering the field. Their Rule of Order stated
that breaking rank was worthy of losing ones habit. They neither asked
nor gave quarter; the were expected to fight until death stayed their
sword arm. Retreat from an enemy would not be countenanced unless the
odds were greater than three to one against them and they were
forbidden to ransom themselves if captured. They fought like men
possessed, either prevailing in their cause, or suffering death under
the banner of Gol’gotha – the place of the skull – where their Christ
died.

Templars were not to succumb to the temptation of thinking that they
killed in a spirit of hate and fury, nor that they seized booty in a
spirit of greed. For the Templars did not hate men, but men’s
wrongdoing.

They were dedicated to the protection of travelers and pilgrims of all
religions, though they themselves were Christians, in fact many
Templars were of Palestinian birth, spoke perfect Arabic, and were
familiar with every religious sect, cult, and magical doctrine,
including that of the Islamic Assassins. The Grand Master Philip of
Nablus (1167 A.D.) was a Syrian. They were great statesmen,
politically adept economic traders, and they were allied with the
great sailor-fraternity that had created a worldwide trading empire in
Phoenician times. They became immensely powerful – had the largest
fleet and the most successful banking system in Europe. But they could
not sustain their grip on the Holy Land. Their losses were too great,
and they were eventually driven off the Levant by Saladin, their
Moslem adversary, in 1291. They continued to fight for their cause in
the only manner they could – on the high seas.

The best known Templar pirate ship was the Falcon, “the greatest that
had been built at that time. She was in the harbor when the fortress
of Acre fell “and rescued many ‘ladies and damsels and great treasure
and many important people by evacuating them to Atlit.

After the orderly navel evacuation of Atlit, the Templars retreated to
their Mediterranean island bases on Cyprus, Rhodes and Sicily. Until
their dissolution, they, together with the Order of St. John,
continued as the foremost maritime powers in the Mediterranean,
continuing to effectively wage war on Moslem shipping.

The Templars were still very powerful but in the eyes of European
monarchs and the Church, the Templars raison d’tre had ceased with the
loss of the Holy Lands. Jealousy and covetousness reigned. Phillip IV,
who was deeply in dept to the Order, had seen their treasures stored
in Paris, and designed to make it his own.

On Friday morning October 13th 1307 – and the reason for which Friday
the 13th has become known as an unlucky day – King Phillip IV together
with Avignonese Pope Clement V, ruthlessly suppressed the Order
throughout Europe, with false accusations, arrests, torture and
executions. Though they were offered commuted sentences and
comfortable lives if they would renounce their Order and plead guilty
to the charges, for some mysterious reason, they preferred to remain
true to their principles and received their punishment.

A large number of Templars escaped that day to an uncertain future,
and found refuge abroad. On the eve of the arrests, the entire Templar
fleet mysteriously vanished from the port of La Rochelle carrying with
it a vast fortune, the fate of which remains a mystery down to this
day.

Just as a terrorist to one is a freedom fighter to another, so it was
with the Templars and their fleet. Wanted by the Pope and all the
crowns of Europe, they came to be viewed, by the “comfortable folks”
on the mainland, as pirates.”

“The fascinating world of maverick sea captains who were knights
Templars. This fleet flew the Skull and Cross-Bones, the symbol of the
Knights Templar, and preyed on Vatican ships coming from the rich
ports of the Americas: they were the original Pirates of the
Caribbean. Later, known as Scottish Rite Free Masons, they battled the
Spanish and Italian ships that sailed for the Pope. This lost Templar
Fleet was originally based at La Rochelle near Marseille, then hidden
away in the fiords of Scotland. This Templar fleet made a voyage to
Canada in the year 1298 AD, nearly 100 years before Columbus.”

“When the Vatican condemned the Order of the Temple in 1312, many of
those who escaped took to the sea. Their immediate objective was to
take revenge on the Church. Recent discoveries confirm that ships of
the Templar fleet that went missing at La Rochelle later reappeared –
first in the Mediterranean and later in the Atlantic and the Caribbean
– to menace the Church’s maritime commerce. These Templar vessels
often flew the famed Jolly Roger, which took its name from King Roger
II of Sicily, a famed Templar who, during a public spat with the Pope
in 1127, was the first to fly this flag.

Opportunistic buccaneers were quick to see that vast wealth could be
gained in pursuing the Templars’ harassment of the Pope’s interests on
the high seas, and they spread a reign of terror across the shipping
lanes of the New World. Some unaffiliated pirates, in admiration of
the Templar egalitarian ideals, even formed their own secret
societies, and together with the Templars were part of the ferment
that gave rise to independence movements in France and the New World
and contributed to the growth of Freemasonry.

The Templar Pirates is the story of the birth and actual conduct of
piracy on the seas of the New World and of the vast influence the
Templars had on their constituents, and, by their wealth, on the
governments of nations old and new.

– Shows that the pirates of legend originated with the Knights
Templar’s secret navy.
– Reveals the Templars’ secret objective to establish a new universal
order based on spirituality, wisdom, and individualism – the New
Jerusalem.
– Examines the secret history of the Templars’ influence in
international politics.”

“From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Moslem corsairs from the Barbary
Coast ravaged European shipping and enslaved thousands of unlucky
captives. During this same period, thousands more Europeans converted
to Islam and joined the pirate holy war. Were these men (and women)
the scum of the seas, apostates, traitors, renegadoes? Or did they
abandon and betray Christendom as a praxis of social resistance?
Second edition, with new material documenting piracy in the very early
days of New York City.”